C644
Somehow, Talaris avoided fatal wounds, but his condition wasn’t great. He had internal injuries, and the breath he exhaled was coated in blood.
The Warrior who challenged Cyron the most, if not for that, Talaris would’ve been torn apart by the Frenzy by now.
"Runcandel's enemies are attacking the Garden of Swords, and yet you've come here with Talaris-nim. I didn't know you held such deep grudges against him."
The Chaos Energy protecting the Garden of Swords, Kalon and Ram, has weakened. All that Chaos was converging on Rosa. In other words, it now solely depended on Rosa's personal strength.
Jin was recalling the nightmare of the War of the Sword Emperor Castle because of the massive Chaos Rosa unleashed.
Rosa narrowed her eyes as if Jin's words were amusing.
[Wouldn’t you have done the same if you were in my place?]
Undoubtedly, Rosa Runcandel would prioritize dealing with Talaris-nim over me.
Jin immediately thought of that as soon as he faintly felt Talaris's cold energy.Looking back, there was no reason to be so sure.
It was much more efficient for Rosa to continuously overwhelm the formidable forces of Zipple and Kinzelo than to deal with Talaris without hesitation.
After the Chaos Energy between Ram and the city faded, the cannon shots from each force pierced the sky over the Garden of Swords more easily than before.
When Jin didn’t respond, Rosa smiled.
[You may not want to admit it, but you resemble me a lot]
Taang!
A thunderous sound rang out from the GodSlayer.
Rosa lightly knocked down Kaio's arrow.
Although Kaio lost his energy due to the ultra-long-distance support, not even Jin, before getting tired, could have easily withstood such power.
"What do you mean he resembles you? Don’t compare the Thirteenth Battle King of the Great Tribe of Legends to a monster like you."
[Tribe of Legends, this is the first time I've seen you in person. But the first impression is quite disappointing. You're provoking me to save that boy... the Sword of Legends ability the younger one often displayed didn’t emit such a pathetic feeling]
"The power gained through immorality, are you so arrogant as to believe in that?"
[Immorality... I've never distrusted such ambiguous human standards. Even before this body became Chaos]
Squeak-!
Suddenly, a black sword swept across Kaio's back.
If Kaio’s reaction had been delayed, his body would’ve been split in half.
Rosa didn’t move.
What slashed Kaio was the Chaos blade formed at her feet following Rosa’s will.
Before they knew it, dozens of those swords had formed.
The pillars of light were mercilessly sliced leaving only bright traces.
Before even the traces vanished, the black swords swirled and aimed at Jin, Kaio, and Talaris.
"Brother Jin! Don’t worry about me, save your companion!" shouted Kaio as he pushed back the chaos swords with his arrows.
Jin didn’t even have time to respond.
Talaris and Mort's frost protective shield, deployed in time to block the attacks, was breaking too quickly.
On the other hand, Rosa's number of swords was increasing with every blink.
One hundred, two hundred, three hundred...
Rosa's first move was the moment Jin lunged at Talaris.
[The Family's value is dominance through strength, not immorality. That’s what you often said. It used to be like that. I've often thought about it, but I don't know the difference no matter how much I think about it.]
Jin, blocking Frenzy's Sword, stepped back.
[Runcandel has killed countless people so far, and has enjoyed conquests and looting. This too would be immoral to some people. What are your standards?]
Jin didn’t hesitate to respond.
"I'm a human born into a Sword Family and the rightful heir of the Magic Sword, not a Chaos pawn. That's all."
[That's a good answer]
Jin stepped back and countered Frenzy.
The power of Rosa, felt in a single clash, clearly surpassed his.
It would've been the same even if Jin didn’t have the fatigue and accumulated wounds from the previous battle.
Moreover, he felt the energy piercing his body through the clashed swords.
'Like a poison, Chaos is poisoning my body...'
Chaos, a dark force that plunges humans into demonic nature.
Rosa herself is a massive Chaos and the most powerful source of infection.
Ordinary Warriors would be engulfed in Chaos by merely standing near her.
Perhaps not even 9-star or higher Warriors would be able to withstand it, and even superhumans would find it impossible to engage in direct combat with her for an extended period.
No, it wasn't just an idea, it was a certainty.
Jin could feel the God of Battle's Blood and the Light Heart beating wildly and pushing away the Chaos transmitted by Rosa.
'It didn’t happen when I first met her in the Garden of Swords... Is it the result of receiving something more from the Prophet after our conversation changed, or was she hiding it?'
In any case, Rosa's contagion meant one thing.
Currently, Jin was the only human who could fight Rosa in the human world.
[Ilina's words about the Tribe of Legends being immune to Chaos are true. If so, you too are beyond human.]
"I can’t help feeling that you still want to converse with me as equals. What's the reason? Do you want false comfort knowing you're not the only one who crossed the line?"
[You'll understand when you have a child, a satisfying child. How much joy it brings to have a child like yourself. That's all there is to it.]
"You're completely insane. I'd rather not be treated like you, who have succumbed to Chaos."
[Well, in that case, Runcandel would've ended before you arrived. It seems you still misunderstand this aspect about me]
Madness, or demonic nature.
Although she was said to be mad, Rosa was different from Ron before defying his fate or Smarion in the Ghost Castle, who had lost reason.
If she had accepted such Chaos, she should have lost her sanity long ago, but Jin couldn't perceive any of that in Rosa.
Instead, Rosa seemed more than ever a "living person".
In Jin's memories, the acting matriarch rarely showed any emotion.
Especially emotions like joy and satisfaction.
The current Rosa seemed genuinely joyful. She also seemed sad, knowing she would have to kill her beloved son with her own hands.
Jin's gaze fell on the rear of Rosa, where he saw Talaris and Mort barely holding on amidst the Chaos blades.
[Do you want to save the Master of the Hidden Palace? Surely you consider her more like a mother than me]
The Frenzy's blade pierced Jin's chest.
He managed to block it with Bradamante, but lost balance and was sent flying backward.
'I'm jealous, huh...'
Having spoken thus, Rosa disregarded Jin's attempt to block her subsequent attack and turned her body to look at Talaris.
For a moment, thoughts about Talaris flooded Rosa's mind.
Looking back, it seemed she had always felt jealous of the Hidden Palace Master, not just now.
Cyron had always been closer to her than to herself.
[I wonder how it would be if the first sword that saved you took the life of the Hidden Palace Master. If that were the case, would it hurt you a bit?]
Meteor Shower.
Runcandel's Third Final Movement, the bloodline sword that saved Jin for the first time.
The raised Frenzy summoned black meteors.
The power, surpassing even that of Luna's Mental Sword: Blood Moon that ravaged an entire island that day, shook the entire battlefield even before hitting the ground.
However, the black meteor remained suspended in the sky for a while, as if caught in a loop.
Ultimate Shadow Sword Technique, First Movement.
First Night.
Sensory Blocking, the first sign of the Ultimate Shadow Sword Technique.
For an instant, Rosa's senses were blocked.
However, before three seconds passed, Rosa regained her senses and began controlling the meteor shower once more.
The shadow force of the first night and the chaos of the meteoric sword began to push against each other, and the struggle between Jin and Rosa began.
[Is this the best sword you've completed so far?]
The hundreds of black sword energies that seemed to overwhelm the entire battlefield stopped moving.
It was the result of Rosa fully concentrating on the meteor shower.
Thanks to this, Kaio, Talaris, and Mort could pause for a moment to catch their breath.
However, they couldn't move.
The blades that had stopped moving blocked their path like bars of a prison.
Kaio still had the strength to pierce through them, but Talaris did not.
Mort attempted a brief dimensional shift, but the fatigue and thick chaos blocking the dimensional portal to the snow garden made it impossible.
It seemed like time had stopped on the battlefield.
The meteor shower and the first night advanced so slowly that one had to look closely to realize it.
Jin's ultimate technique was losing ground.
The curtains of shadow force layers were silently being shattered by the meteor shower.
Rosa lowered her head, seemingly disappointed.
[Very... impressive sword]
Her disappointment wasn't because she thought Jin's ultimate technique was ridiculous.
Contrary to appearances, Rosa knew that her meteor shower was being completely blocked by the Shadow Energy of the First Night.
The disappointment was that she couldn't kill Talaris with that sword.
As soon as Rosa finished speaking, the meteor shower disappeared as if absorbed by the First Night.
Jin was bleeding from every pore of his face, and Rosa seemed to stagger from the impact.
But that was all.
Rosa wouldn't delay in unleashing her next sword move to finish off Talaris.
Jin didn't have much strength left, but still, he launched his body forward.
'If I use my last strength to unleash the Sword of the Reign of the King of Legends again...!'
What will come next?
He couldn't think that far ahead.
The only conviction filling Jin's mind was that he couldn't let Talaris die.
In that single moment, his heart was completely dominated by emotion.
To Jin, Talaris was such a person.
A comrade who always held significant meaning for Jin.
Kaio also pierced through the blades of chaos and advanced with Jin, and Talaris attempted to scream.
She tried to tell them not to come, to escape and survive.
She also received Rosa's sword before Jin arrived.
That's why she knew Jin was Rosa's only opponent.
If Jin died trying to save her here, the world would no longer be able to face Rosa.
But before Talaris could say those words, Jin realized he didn't need to risk his life to save her at that moment.
Above Talaris' head descended a dragon.
A black light descended like salvation.
[Long time no see, brat.]
The Black Dragon, Murakan, Jin's Guardian Dragon.
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